PETER HITCHENS: Biased BBC says dope should be legal and cocaine's a joke. Why should we pay for it?
Will Self is one of Britain's most famous takers of illegal drugs. He was sacked by the Left-wing Observer newspaper after he was caught snorting heroin on Prime Minister John Major's plane in 1997.
So why has the BBC chosen him, of all people, to be one of the favoured stars of a programme called A Point Of View?
Well, why do you think? In this Radio 4 show, the presenter can say pretty much what he or she likes for ten minutes. Almost all those given this privilege are Left-wing.
The BBC flatly refused to allow me to do it. They nearly ruptured themselves as they tried not to give their real reason – that my point of view is one they hate.
Will Self is one of Britain's most famous takers of illegal drugs. He was sacked by the Left-wing Observer newspaper after he was caught snorting heroin on Prime Minister John Major's plane in 1997
And a few weeks ago Mr Self used the slot to call for the legalisation of marijuana. I made a formal complaint, saying that it was a breach of due impartiality.
The BBC never had and never would give any opponent of marijuana legalisation the same opportunity. So to allow Mr Self to make this call was to break the BBC's firm pledge to be fair on matters of major public controversy.
I have got used to stupid responses from the complaints people. But the answer I got was so ridiculous, it made me laugh out loud. They said: 'While we accept that the drugs issue is of course capable of causing political or societal controversy, we do not agree that it is currently a 'major matter' as defined in our editorial guidelines.'
How odd, in that case, that the BBC never misses any opportunity to publicise any and every call for drug legalisation, especially in its news programmes. In fact, the accelerating campaign to legalise drugs – clearly backed by the BBC – is fast turning into the biggest social revolution since the 1960s.
And then there is drama too. The BBC absurdly pretends that drama cannot be used to promote policies. Really? Too many people know with bitter certainty that marijuana is a hard, family-destroying menace, and perhaps worse than that.
Yet the BBC made it look like a harmless giggle on a Gavin & Stacey Christmas special. What effect do you think that had?
And a few weeks ago Mr Self used the slot to call for the legalisation of marijuana. I made a formal complaint, saying that it was a breach of due impartiality, writes Peter Hitchens, pictured above
Now a new drama series makes a similar joke out of cocaine. It will be heroin and LSD next, and who knows what afterwards. The programme, called Everything I Know About Love and starring Emma Appleton, opened on BBC1 last Monday night.
But ten minutes into the first episode, the star and two of her friends are shown pressuring a fourth woman into snorting cocaine in the lavatory of a restaurant. Their victim is depicted as being pathetically dumb, fearing she will instantly die.
They sneer that she is 'suburban'. They say that cocaine is a '2.4 children, L-shaped sofa' type of drug. 'You just dip in and out of it like houmous.' Of course the fourth woman gives in, and her moral collapse into criminal stupidity is portrayed as welcome and a minor laugh.
I think the people in charge of this organisation know perfectly well what they are doing, helping to turn a once-civilised society into a miserable, selfish hell. Why on earth should we pay through the licence fee for this electronic slurry? Peter Hitchens. DM.
